Little Furnace Wire Problems

dan50w · 12-23-2007, 12:05 AM

I just bought a 2005 34' classic and towed it to Palm Springs for the winter. After 2 weeks of cool mornings and warm afternoons ,one evening, the furnace quit running . I tried everything from checking fuses, circuit breakers, lp connections and control modules, 12v. connections,cleaned all the connectors and plugin ends. still no furnace. Finally had to call a mobile RV repairman. After going through everything we thought could have possibly caused the problem we found that one of the blue wires that go from the furnace to the thermostat had either broke in half inside the walls somewhere between the A/C and the furnace. I called AS support services and they basically said there was nothing they could do for me since my unit was more than 2 years old. Pretty lame customer service and warranty if you ask me. If my 2005 Chevrolet pickup quit running with 7000 total miles and 2 years of warranty expired I wonder if GM would have told me we're sorry we can't help you and we can't be held resonsable for your problem.. I ask for a wiring diagram to see if I could follow the wire routing inside the ceiling since the junction box runs out the curb side of the AC. They told me the wires could be anywhere and I would have to start drilling holes through the backs of the cabinets to find their locations. B-ll sh--. I'm not going to destroy my new trailer like that,but, that was how the Service Department told me to solve my problem, unbelievable!!. I ran a wire from the upper AC down the trim piece and through the upper cabinet down to the blue thermostat wire on the furnace until I return to my dealer in Spokane, (who by the way has been my only guiding light through this entire mess.) He said make do until we get back and he will take care of the problem for me and try to make me happy. Thanks to Airstream of Spokane for doing what Airstream should have done in the first place.

TBRich · 12-24-2007, 08:20 PM

Welcome to the forums, Dan50w...sorry to learn of your problems with the furnace...and with AS's response. We rely heavily on our dealer (from whom we bougth our unit) to deal with these types of things...I think they know that they are closer to the end-user and they want to keep us as happy as they can. It's too bad that you have been left with a bad taste in your mouth for the "Mother Ship"... we usually hear good things about them...maybe someone there needs to take heed to problems like this...

BUT, that having been said, we are glad you could join the AS community here...you will find plenty of moral support and lots of answers to questions from this extremely knowledgeable and experienced group...

Good luck and...ease on down the road...
TB

lewster · 12-25-2007, 07:43 AM

dan50w,

Welcome! Sorry for your problems with A/S, but it's not that unexpected. I have found that many RV OEMs don't want to know the customer after the warranty period is up.

I assume that your RV Tech did a continuty test on your thermostat wires to make the determination that the wire had broken. If not, perhaps you should do one to be certain of the results.

Unfortunately, if the diagnosis is correct, the only remedy is to re-wire the t/stat to the furnace. This will involve routing 2 new wires and snaking them behind the walls/cabinets or anywhere you can get them so they won't be seen. It's not easy to do because of the cross supports in the A/S, and you surely don't want to start removing inner skin panels!

Good luck on your project. You also might consider re-locating the t/stat to a suitable area that is closer to the furnace to better facilitate the run for the new wires.

overlander63 · 12-25-2007, 08:02 AM

I wonder if you could use vinyl tubing. Slightly larger than the two wires, unhook the wires from the furnace, and slide the tubing over the wires to the t-stat. Then tape the new wires to the old wires, and snake them through the tube to the t-stat. You can leave the vinyl tubing in place to eliminate chafing.

thecatsandi · 12-25-2007, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan50w

I called AS support services and they basically said there was nothing they could do for me since my unit was more than 2 years old. Pretty lame customer service and warranty if you ask me.

Gotta ask. Did they think you were tryingto make awarrenty claim?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan50w

I ran a wire from the upper AC down the trim piece and through the upper cabinet down to the blue thermostat wire on the furnace until I return to my dealer in Spokane, (who by the way has been my only guiding light through this entire mess.) He said make do until we get back and he will take care of the problem for me and try to make me happy. Thanks to Airstream of Spokane for doing what Airstream should have done in the first place.

AS of Spokane are great people and know the product.